History Library Research Guide: Find Primary Sources

This is an online version of the leading historical dictionary of the English language includes etymology, philology, and quotations. It is updated quarterly. (Oxford University Press - Direct) Remote Access with University Network Account

British Literary Manuscripts Online consists of two parts: British Literary Manuscripts, c. 1660 - 1900 and British Literary Manuscripts, Medieval and Renaissance. The database includes more than 800,000 pages of manuscripts from Britain's major authors, and includes poetry, novels, private correspondence, diaries, journals, sermons, drawings, hand-written notes, and more. The manuscripts are facsimiles of works from the British Library, the Folger Shakespeare library, the Huntington Library, and other sources. (Gale-Direct)

ECCO is a nearly comprehensive collection of the works published in the English language (and non-English language works printed in the United Kingdom) during the eighteenth century. It contains approximately 180,000 books, with 33,000,000 pages. ECCO covers the full spectrum of intellectual activity in the century: literature, history, geography, law, science, medicine, technology, the fine arts, religion, philosophy, political science and government. Additional features include a chronology of the century, direct links to a series of key documents in several fields, and image galleries.

This archive provides documentary materials that explore religious and philosophical movements in reaction to the dramatic changes in culture and society wrought by the industrial revolution and modernity. Topics covered include positivism and anti-positivism, freethinking, the co-operative movement, alternative Christianities, and the application of the social principles of Christianity to everyday life by a variety of denominations.

Based on Joseph Sabin's landmark bibliography, this collection contains works about the Americas published throughout the world from 1500 to the early 1900's. Included are books, pamphlets, serials and other documents that provide original accounts of exploration, trade, colonialism, slavery and abolition, the western movement, Native Americans, military actions and much more. With over 6 million pages from 29,000 works, this collection is a cornerstone in the study of the western hemisphere.(Gale - Direct)

Newspaper Source Plus provides a full-text digital collection of the world's major news content. It includes millions of articles from newspapers, newswires and news magazines. In addition, it offers television and radio transcripts and ongoing daily updates from popular news sources. (EBSCO) Remote Access with University Network Account

Past Masters provides access to searchable full text databases of primary works, letters, journals, and notebooks from important philosophers and women writers. Collections purchased by UD include the Collected Works of Aquinas, The Complete Works of Aristotle, Works by Hume, Locke, and Wittgenstein, The Federalist Papers, The Collected Dialogues of Plato, and more.

Series 1 presents titles dating from 1693 through 1820.

Series 2 presents over 1000 titles dating from 1821 through 1837. The collection represents over two centuries of print culture, ranging from early works imported by the colonists to later titles published on American soil on the eve of the Revolution and during the early republic.

Series 3 presents over 1,700 titles dating from 1838 through 1852. The themes presented in Series 3 reveal a rapidly growing young nation, where industrialization, the railroads, regional political differences, and life on the western frontier were daily realities. Subjects covered in the collection reach into every facet of American life, including science, literature, medicine, agriculture, women’s fashion, family life, and religion.

Series 4 presents over 1,100 titles dating from 1853 through 1865. While the Civil War is a focal point of the collection, we also find a diverse record of the continuance of daily life for many Americans—both leading up to and during the war. News from the battlefront can be found, in addition to the usual breadth of subject matter found in previous collections that include science, literature, medicine, agriculture, women’s fashion, family life, and religion.

Series 5 presents over 2,500 titles dating from 1866 through 1912. The themes presented in Series 5 reflect a nation that persevered through a most difficult set of circumstances: a bloody civil war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives; the incorporation of the recently-freed African Americans into American life; a population that rapidly expanded into the Western territories. Broad subject areas covered in the collection reach into every facet of American life, including science, literature, medicine, agriculture, women’s fashion, family life, and religion.